From stock constraints and halted shipments, to tariffs whiplash and waterway obstructions, manufacturers and retailers have been battling provide chain disruption for years.
However corporations are in a position to deal with the chaos, conflicts and uncertainty slightly bit higher now, executives stated on panels just lately throughout Shoptalk Fall in Chicago. They’ve gotten used to having to pivot, whether or not there’s a difficulty domestically or internationally. And synthetic intelligence has made adapting considerably simpler than 5 years in the past, because of instruments that flag delays, assist optimize stock and automate duties.
At present, agility with provide chains is admittedly about having choices, remarked Derek Geiss, chief provide chain officer and evp of worldwide at Nutrabolt, which oversees C4 and Cellucor. The corporate has loved explosive progress over the past six years, he stated throughout a panel on Wednesday. “Being agile went from, ‘How can we make all of this?’ to ‘How do now we have choices of the place to make it?’” he shared.
Nonetheless, multi-brand retailers have quite a few challenges in relation to staying nimble with their provide chains — primarily that, whereas they’ve their very own provide chain groups, so do their particular person manufacturers. Every one could have a special coverage in relation to most popular distributors, packaging or cargo instances. That may spring extra obstacles in retailers’ paths.
Right here’s how three retailers are navigating these challenges in 2025 — and what they suggest others do, too.
Tailor-made Manufacturers
Tailor-made Manufacturers is the mum or dad of menswear retailers Males’s Wearhouse, Jos. A. Financial institution and Moores, in addition to Okay&G Vogue Superstore. The corporate is not any stranger to disruption, Jamie Bragg, chief provide chain officer and evp of Tailor-made Manufacturers, stated throughout a Shoptalk Fall session on Wednesday. In reality, he stated, the influence has gotten “louder and louder, significantly since Covid.”
“I can’t recall a time the place we didn’t see disruptions occurring on a extra frequent foundation,” he stated. “So, [it’s] essential to have the ability to react, have agility, [and] have a plan B, C and even D.”
Tariffs, particularly, have affected the corporate, Bragg stated. Throughout Donald Trump’s first administration, Tailor-made Manufacturers largely manufactured in China, and it diminished its manufacturing there to keep away from sure tariffs. By Trump’s second time period, Tailor-made Manufacturers had a “honest quantity” of producing popping out of Mexico, Bragg stated.
Nonetheless, come February, Trump enacted a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico. Tailor-made Manufacturers moved manufacturing to India, one thing that appeared like a “nice choice on the time,” Bragg stated. And but, in August, the U.S. slapped a 50% tariff on items coming in from India.
The whiplash has been difficult, Bragg conceded. However, he stated, “There’s actually nowhere to cover from tariffs. It’s about understanding the way you mitigate what the results of these tariffs might seem like.” He talked about that Tailor-made Manufacturers has tried to remain afloat by creating “deep partnerships” with distributors, higher managing stock and re-evaluating logistics suppliers.
What’s additionally been key to navigating uncertainty has been determining a “base plan” and speaking throughout departments, Bragg stated. “The extra cross-functional your response will be, the simpler you’re going to be,” he stated. “Your group has to evolve to some extent the place planning and sourcing and allocation and logistics and distribution all need to be on the identical sheet of music. In any other case, the downstream penalties gained’t essentially internet you what you’re making an attempt to realize as a response to the disruption.”
Tailor-made Manufacturers, like different corporations, is coping with a number of unknowns, Bragg stated. However, he defined, selections need to be made — and “it’s a must to dwell with these varieties of selections.” “Not making them, in the long term, [or] standing nonetheless, just isn’t going that will help you both,” he stated.
Wayfair
Wayfair, which largely sells furnishings, “skilled an infinite quantity of change” within the final 5 years, Kate Gulliver, the retailer’s CFO, stated in a Shoptalk Fall session on Wednesday.
“[In the] Covid interval, we had actually vital demand pull ahead,” Gulliver stated. “Then, we had stock challenges in our class as a result of a lot was bought. Then, we had the class fall off. And now, now we have tariffs.” The scenario might get extra sophisticated, as Trump has vowed to enact extra tariffs on the furnishings business.
One of many methods Wayfair has tried to climate the storm has been by way of its provider relationships, Gulliver defined. Wayfair operates on a market mannequin and works with hundreds of suppliers worldwide. It collects a big trove of knowledge and shares that with suppliers — and “that aggressive course of has helped preserve costs environment friendly throughout a lot complexity over the past 5 years,” Gulliver stated.
As an example, Wayfair is utilizing knowledge to grasp “effectivity curves” inside all of its classes, together with home equipment and pet items. Gulliver defined that Wayfair can help its suppliers by telling them, “We all know that now we have to be roughly right here on the curve, no matter the place the tariffs are. Let’s allow you to perceive the best way to make that worth extra environment friendly. Is it worth engineering? Is it sourcing from different geographies?”
“It’s actually serving to them with that info and speaking them by way of it,” Gulliver added.
REI
REI is house to many manufacturers throughout the outside, footwear and attire classes. Popping out of Covid, the retail world was “always making an attempt to be agile,” Jennifer Kobus, dvp of worldwide provide chain at REI, acknowledged throughout a Shoptalk Fall panel on Wednesday. “You’re making an attempt to do your finest to maintain every part afloat,” she stated. She even talked about the “pivot, pivot” scene from “Mates,” saying it stayed in her head “for years.”
Now, in 2025, Kobus thinks about agility otherwise. She, and REI, are “actually extra centered on a steady enchancment mindset,” she stated.
Nonetheless, one of many problems with REI’s provide chain, Kobus acknowledged, is that the corporate sells all sorts of SKUs, “from a shoebox to a ship.” And, like Wayfair and Tailor-made Manufacturers, REI is coping with a number of totally different provide chain companions. Fixed communication amongst these is vital, Kobus careworn. “Are our provide chain of us at REI speaking to manufacturers and their provide chain of us?” she requested. “How are you ensuring you’re connecting the dots, but in addition [having a] bigger-picture understanding?”
All through all of it, REI has stayed laser-focused on “ensuring that product is in the suitable place, on the proper time,” Kobus stated. She defined that REI works with its logistics companions to verify clients have varied supply choices and that suppliers are “dependable and accountable.”
“We wish to have a profitable expertise each single time, and we have to handle that all through our number of SKUs, in addition to the number of our provide chain mannequin, after which simply be sure that we’re always driving what the friends need,” Kobus stated.
